Prescription Drug Costs Up

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According to a recent AARP study, brand-name prescription drug prices have climbed at twice the rate of inflation during the 12 months ending in June 2005 (6.1% vs. 3.0%). The good news here (if there is any) is that this increase was slightly below the 7.1% and 7.0% increases in the previous two years. The drug that experienced the largest price increase was the emphysema drug Atrovent, which soared 18% (from $2.12/day to $2.51/day). The sleep aid Ambien was a close second, increasing 14% (from $2.19/day to $2.50/day). In contrast, generic drug prices are reported to have risen just 1% over the same time period. This is just further evidence that you should be using generic drugs whenever possible.

3 Responses to “Prescription Drug Costs Up”

You can also do research on certain drugs at crbestbuydrugs.org which is run by the non profit organization that publishes Consumer Reports magazine. Just like they do with cars, appliances and other gadgets, the evaluate different types of prescription medicines on effectiveness, safety and cost.

Ok, I think the price of health care has gone from a necessity to a luxury. It’s rather astronomical. Many of you know my step-father’s now gotten a mechanical heart, a Heartmate model 1. He’s not done so well with it, and the doctors have given him different kinds of medication, and one that they recently prescribed my mother attempted to purchase, and discovered the price tag was $1700. What’s a person supposed to do?

I use Lunesta, which is a sleep aid like Ambien, and the price for it has gone up as well. While easy to blame big-pharma, the tremendous “red-tape” that they must get through to get a drug to market often leads to higher and higher drug prices. Whenever you bring in govt oversight (FDA) then you will increase the cost of producing a good. Catch 22. Do we want “safer” meds, or “cheaper” meds. Difficult, sticky situation…
good post,
ncnblog.com

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